Clothes hanger

ABSTRACT

A clothes hanger comprising a body for hanging an article of clothing, the body including a central portion having upper and lower sides, and a hook having a lower end connected to the central portion for hooking the body to an external support. The hook end is connected to the body portion by means of a ball socket joint that permits the hook to pivot between the upper and lower sides of the body portion as well as to swivel about itself through 360°.

[0001] The present invention relates to a clothes or garment hanger.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Travellers often bring clothes hangers with them for hangingclothes. With the limitation of space in a suitcase or bag, hangers canbe awkward to store unless their size can somehow be reduced asnecessary.

[0003] Inside a piece of luggage, whilst the body of a clothes hangercan be used in the upper part of a jacket or the like to maintain itsshape, the hook is particularly unwieldy.

[0004] Clothes hangers are known to have a foldable body that can befolded into a smaller size but cannot be used to maintain the shape of ajacket, for example, put thereon.

[0005] The invention seeks to mitigate or at least alleviate suchshortcomings by providing an improved clothes hanger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] According to the invention, there is provided a clothes hangercomprising a body for hanging an article of clothing, the body includinga central portion having upper and lower sides, and a hook having alower end connected to the central portion for hooking the body to anexternal support. The hook end is connected to the body portion by meansof a joint that permits the hook to pivot between the upper and lowersides of the body portion as well as to swivel about itself through anangle of at least 180°.

[0007] Preferably, the joint comprises a ball socket joint.

[0008] More preferably, the hook end includes a ball and the bodyportion includes a socket, the ball and socket inter-engaging toconstitute the ball socket joint.

[0009] Further more preferably, the socket is provided internally of thebody portion.

[0010] Further more preferably, the body portion includes a groove inwhich the socket is provided, the groove accommodating the hook end whenthe hook is pivoted to each one of the upper and lower sides of the bodyportion.

[0011] It is further preferred that the groove includes internalresilient retainers for engaging the hook end to retain the hook inposition on each one of the upper and lower sides of the body portion,yet permitting said swivelling of the hook.

[0012] It is further preferred that the body comprises front and rearbody parts connected together, and the front body part comprises leftand right halves that are spaced apart to form the groove.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment, the body portion has an internalcavity, to which the hook end is connected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] The invention will now be more particularly described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

[0015]FIG. 1 is an exploded front view of an embodiment of a clotheshanger in accordance with the invention, said hanger having a body and ahook;

[0016]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the clothes hanger of FIG. 1,showing the hook separated from the body;

[0017]FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view of the clothes hanger ofFIG. 2, illustrating the hook pivotable between upper and lower sides ofthe body; and

[0018]FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of the clothes hanger ofFIG. 2, illustrating the hook swivellable around about itself.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0019] Referring to the drawings, there is shown a clothes hanger 10embodying the invention, which has an inverted flat V-shaped body 100for hanging an article of clothing such as a jacket, and a hook 200 forhooking the body 100 to an external support such as a rail. The hangerbody 100 has a central head portion 102, and the hook 200 has a verticalstraight stem 210 connected to the head portion 102 by means of amovable joint J.

[0020] The hanger body 100 has a rigid structure formed by matchingfront and rear parts 110 and 120 secured together by six screws 140. Thefront body part 110 is divided into left and right halves 112 which arespaced apart, as between their adjacent inner ends 112A, to form avertical straight groove 104 in the head portion 102.

[0021] A trouser hanging rod 130 extends across opposite outer ends ofthe hanger body 100, which is fitted with a co-extending anti-slip chord132.

[0022] At about mid-length of the head portion groove 104, there are apair of opposed indentations (or openings) 114 in the inner ends 112A ofthe front body part halves 112 and a central recess 124 in the rear bodypart 120. The indentations 114 and recess 124 together form a cavity orsocket 106 internally of the head portion 102.

[0023] The lowermost end of the hook stem 210 is expanded andspherically shaped to form a ball 212. The ball 212 has substantiallythe same size as the interior of the socket 106 and engages rotatablytherein, together rendering the joint J a ball socket joint that permitsthe hook 200 to pivot as well as to swivel.

[0024] As the socket 106 is provided internally of the groove 104, thehook stem 210 projects out via the groove 104. Thus, the hook 200 isrestricted or guided by the groove 104 to pivot upwards and downwardsthrough an angle of about 180° along a vertical central plane of thegroove 104 (FIG. 3). The hook stem 210 is longer than either section ofthe groove 104 above and below the socket 106, such that the stem 210can be accommodated by the groove 104 to extend vertically upwards ordownwards.

[0025] In the vertical upward position, the hook 200 protrudes to theupper side of the head portion 102 of the hanger body 100 for use. Uponpivoting vertically downwards, the hook 200 protrudes to the lower sideof the head portion 102 within the hanger body 100 for storage.

[0026] The ball socket joint J also permits the hook 200 to swivel aboutits stem 210, at any pivotal position and especially the uprightposition, freely around i.e. through 360° (FIG. 4), or through an angleof at least 180°. Thus, the hook 200 can be turned to either the left orright side of the hanger body 100 for hooking onto a support.

[0027] Although this is not clearly shown in the drawings, a pair ofopposed protrusions 108 is formed on the opposite sides of each sectionof the groove 104 above and below the socket 106, that is on the innerends 112A of the front body part halves 112. The protrusions 108 of eachpair are resiliently deformable for engaging the hook stem 210 through asnap action to retain the stem 210 in either the vertical upward ordownward position.

[0028] Thus, the hook 200 can stay in position on each of the upper andlower sides of the body head portion 102, yet remaining swivellablerelative to the hanger body 100 especially in the upward position tofacilitate hooking.

[0029] Whilst the hook 200 of the subject hanger 10 can be retractedthrough pivoting into body 100, the body 100 remains in shape forsupporting an article of clothing put thereon with minimum creasingduring storage.

[0030] The invention has been given by way of example only, and variousmodifications of and/or alterations to the described embodiment may bemade by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope ofthe invention as specified in the appended claims.

1. A clothes hanger comprising: a body for hanging an article ofclothing, the body including a central portion having upper and lowersides; and a hook having a lower end connected to the central portionfor hooking the body to an external support; wherein the hook end isconnected to the body portion by means of a joint that permits the hookto pivot between the upper and lower sides of the body portion as wellas to swivel about itself through an angle of at least 180°.
 2. Theclothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the joint comprises a ballsocket joint.
 3. The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein thehook end includes a ball and the body portion includes a socket, theball and socket inter-engaging to constitute the ball socket joint. 4.The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 3, wherein the socket is providedinternally of the body portion.
 5. The clothes hanger as claimed inclaim 4, wherein the body portion includes a groove in which the socketis provided, the groove accommodating the hook end when the hook ispivoted to each one of the upper and lower sides of the body portion. 6.The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 5, wherein the groove includesinternal resilient retainers for engaging the hook end to retain thehook in position on each one of the upper and lower sides of the bodyportion, yet permitting said swivelling of the hook.
 7. The clotheshanger as claimed in claim 5, wherein the body comprises front and rearbody parts connected together, and the front body part comprises leftand right halves that are spaced apart to form the groove.
 8. Theclothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body portion has aninternal cavity, to which the hook end is connected.